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Tuesday, February 28, 2017

The third and final novel in an epic
steampunk horror series, OBSIDIAN SKY closes the dramatic adventures of Claire,
Sawyer, Gemma, and Nash, digging up the final secrets of their past, bringing
new allies into a dangerous fray, and drawing friends and foes into a battle
where the cost may be too much to pay…

The
final struggle against the Hellions has arrived. A trapped engineer and a
desperate marauder scramble to fight an enemy with unspeakable power on its
side. Time is running out, and one world will be destroyed…

After sacrificing herself to save the lives of
her friends and family, Claire Abernathy struggles to outwit her Hellion
captors. They torment and terrify her into working on a weapon with the sole
purpose of obliterating the world, friends, and love she has struggled to save.
If Claire has any chance of saving those she loves, she must delve deeper into
the Hellion world, and witness nightmares she could never imagine.

In Westraven, Sawyer Kendric is desperate to
find the woman he loves. To do so, he must finally embrace his family’s
atrocious past and heal the wounds it has caused. He will be forced to make new
allies, uncover secrets that change all he knows, and find the courage to lead
a ragtag crew into the darkest, deadliest battle of their lives.

Claire and Sawyer fight to save their broken
world in the final installment of the epic DARK SKY trilogy.

Two
stories are told in OBSIDIAN SKY––the first chronicling a young engineer named
Claire Abernathy as she struggles to survive the in the terrifying world of
Hellnore, home of the blood-drinking Hellions, forced to serve their ghastly
King and avoid the torment of Davin Kendric, the Hellion general, in hopes that
she will be able to escape and return to her home and loved ones. The second
story follows Sawyer Kendric, the young pirate captain who must make final
peace with his own inner demons and face his responsibilities as a leader, all
while uncovering secrets that will either save Claire, or seal her bloody fate.
Their adventures will collide in an explosive finale that will change their lives
forever, and leave one world altered forever…

While
I love every book in the DARK SKY series, OBSIDIAN SKY is my favorite. I know I’m not supposed to pick a
favorite, but I can’t help it. The book was just so much fun to write, allowing
me the chance to write a story from two different perspectives and challenge
myself as an author while bringing events to a conclusion where everything fell
into place. Sometimes I worried that I was going to stray off from the main
storyline, but thankfully everything fell into place just the way it needed to.

One of the great things about
this novel is that it gets to move outside of Westraven. That’s been the main
hub of activity throughout the first two books and two novellas, but I had made
an expanded world and wanted to explore it. While Claire is stuck in Hellnore,
which I modeled after Mordor from Lord of
the Rings (a source of inspiration for almost every fantasy author, let’s
be honest), Sawyer gets to explore the Aon, the country beyond the borders of
Westraven. Both of them attract more than their share of trouble because let’s
be honest, they couldn’t stay away from it if they tried.

World building aside, the
best part about splitting the engineer and the marauder up was being able to
focus on their individual characters and their final arcs. I did my best to
balance the events and keep the tension and action flowing throughout the
story, making the pacing fast for one character and slow for the other. When
Claire needs a breather, Sawyer is the one getting into trouble and vice versa.

The ending is a lot more
emotional than I intended, and it was sad to see these beloved characters reach
their conclusions. This series has been with me for years, and there were a
couple tears shed when I wrote the final chapter. I’m committed to going out
with a big bang, so I worked hard with my editor to wrap up all the details and
worked with XPresso Book Tours for a book blitz while organizing a second blog
tour. I’ve also discounted the prices of every book in the series, and will
keep them lowered for the month of February.

I can’t begin to express how
excited the cover and artwork have made me. Deranged Doctor Design outdid
themselves yet again, capturing everything this book is about: The red lava
that represents Hellnore, the crossed swords for Sawyer, the claw marks and
dents inflicted by the Hellions. I’m constantly floored by their fantastic work
and can’t wait to work with them again in the future.

This is the second series
I’ve closed in the past year, the first being the CURSED trilogy for urban
fantasy fans. While I’m just as sad to say goodbye to this one, I’m also
relieved that it’s a project off my plate. I learned so much from writing
OBSIDIAN SKY and the DARK SKY series, and can’t wait to take these lessons and
apply them to future work.

Q & A: Amy Braun and Obsidian Sky– MINOR SPOILERS BELOW.

Q: Were you nervous about writing the end of Obsidian Sky?Was everything planned or were some events spontaneous?

A: I’m a
meticulous planner when it comes to world building and plots, but there were
some events that I hadn’t intended that were added into the final story.
Certain characters and events appeared in places and scenes where I hadn’t
intended them to. Characters acted in ways I hadn’t originally planned, or
would have to think creatively to escape a challenge. I had a great time
experimenting and using a lot of “What If” scenarios where my characters were
pushed to the limits and forced to react unconventionally. I felt like I was
experiencing their adventures with them, and at some points, didn’t know what
would happen next, either.

Q: Did
you have any challenges writing Obsidian
Sky?

A: Sometimes
I can’t seem to control my characters––they go off and do what they want!
Sawyer was notorious for this (which isn’t a surprise, really), and his scenes
often took off in directions I didn’t anticipate. Claire’s challenges were a
little more planned out, though I remember a particular moment about
three-quarters of the way through the book where she got to be an ultra badass.
That was a lot of fun to do. Other challenges I had were with the new elements
and characters being introduced. I wanted them to have a major impact to the
story, and had to work with my editor to make sure their presence was balanced
with the other characters. But for the most part, I was stoked to write this
book and couldn’t be happier with the way everything turned out.

Q: How did it feel to close out a series you’ve worked
on for so long?

A: It’s a
mix of sadness and happiness. On one hand, I realize how much I’ll miss these
characters and this world. I came up with the idea when I was fourteen years
old, and now over ten years later, it’s finally over. It’s a lot to let go of.
But on the other hand, I feel a great deal of closure. Here was this crazy,
random idea I had as a kid, and I finally went ahead and made it a reality. Now
that it’s done with and received with better success than I could have hoped
for, helped me establish my career, I’m aware that if I work hard, put in the
time and effort, and do all the re-writes,
I can transform any idea into a book. And if you’re an author still hesitant
about such a thing, read the opening dedication to Snow Like Ashes by Sara
Raasch. She did the same thing, and she became published. Never give up on your idea!

Q: What will you miss most about the series and the
characters?

A: I’m
definitely going to miss the world and the creatures in it. Writing the
Hellions and Hellnore was so much fun. I’m also going to miss Claire’s
inventiveness, Sawyer’s attitude, Nash’s soft-heart, and Gemma’s tendency to
scream her lungs out in battle.

Q: Is there any chance of a continuation or a spin-off
series in the future?

A: A
reviewer actually asked me that not too long ago. While I’ll never say never to
anything, at this moment, I have no plans to continue the Dark Sky books. Nash and
Gemma have both already had their own spin-off prequel novellas, titled Amber Skyand Smoke Skyrespectively, and if I did do another spin-off, it
would likely be a prequel series. But the odds of that happening in the near
future are slim, given how I want to move onto other projects.

Q: Now that the series is over, what’s next?

A:At the
moment, I’m working on two brand new series. I don’t want to say much about
them to avoid giving away spoilers, but the first series will be an urban
fantasy involving the Greek gods, and the second project is a Young Adult
fantasy series with Gargoyles that was inspired by Throne of Glass by Sarah
J. Maas. I wish I could tell you more at this point, but I can’t give you
anything such as titles or release dates as both of these projects are going to
be going to literary agents. I received amazing feedback on the Greek god
project from one of my favorite fantasy authors, Michael J. Sullivan, and have been diligently working to improve it. I’ll
know in the next month or so whether or not it’ll be going the indie or
traditional route, and my newsletter subscribers and website/social media
followers will be the first to know.

The same can be said for the
YA fantasy Gargoyle project. I’m working on editing it and am hoping that in
the next month or so I can send it to literary agents. YA fantasy is extremely
popular right now, and I’m hoping that will be my “in,” but if not, I will
happily take the project through independent publishing. I learned a lot last
year and am ready to use that knowledge to expand my horizons and hopefully
gain new readers.

At this point, the only
project that will be happening will be the release of the complete Dark
Sky box set in April. But anything can happen in this industry, and I
doubt anything could slow me down at this point. I’m having too much fun!

Amy
is a Canadian urban fantasy and horror author. Her work revolves around
monsters, magic, mythology, and mayhem. She started writing in her early teens,
and never stopped. She loves building unique worlds filled with fun characters
and intense action. She has short stories in various horror and urban
fantasy anthologies and has been featured on various author blogs and
publishing websites, and is an active member of the Writing GIAM and Weekend
Writing Warrior communities. When she isn’t writing, she’s reading, watching
movies, taking photos, gaming, and struggling with chocoholism and ice cream
addiction.

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